Throw away the allen keys and screwdrivers, you'll soon be growing your own furniture!
Belgian designer and engineer Carl de Smet is developing a new kind of smart foam technology which can be flat packed. The so-called Shape Memory Polyurethane (SMPU) can be compressed to just five percent of its original size while still 'remembering' its original form.
Once flattened, the foam can then be heated to a programmed temperature of 70 degrees so that it expands back to its original shape. The predefined temperature prevents problem of the foam expanding and your new sofa re-creating itself by accident when taking it home in the back of the car on a hot day.
Currently, Mr de Smet is working with scaled-down models, but he is aiming to reflating full-size tables, chairs and other household furniture very soon.
Having displayed his new flat-pack at the Milan Design Week in April, it's surely only a matter of time before it becomes a standard item for Swedish flat-pack superstores, IKEA.